JPvH's aerial win rate in the Prem is 57.4% 😬 (I'm actually not a hater because he does a lot of other things well, but it just goes to show how thin the "senior" CB market is ... I had fun on BS the other day mumbling about the PL CB with the highest OBV this season being ... Senesi 🫣)
Fair point re aerials, I see he's dipped a little since last season. If Liverpool happen to sign him I'll dig into his aerial data like I did with Guehi when that move looked likely - turned out he wasn't as bad as the raw figure suggests, it'd be interesting to know if van Hecke is the same.
I like that your trash talk is ‘this is disappointing’! Yes, I’m afraid I support the Mets. I will always be more disappointed in the decision than you, trust me 😉
With Jacquet (21yo) and Leoni (19.5yo) + the 2 CB prospects where we paid a fee, it feels like we've got the "squad" covered at center back, i.e. the 3rd, 4th & 5th CB.
If Ibou leaves, we should therefore be looking for an replacement who is: (1) elite now, (2) 24-26yo, (3) ideally PL-ready. Agree that the focus for elite s/b: (1) a duel-winner & (2) progression machine.
That's a pretty short list: van de Ven, van Hecke & Schlotterbeck. As Andrew pointed out, the latter two are from "selling clubs" w/ 1 year remaining and are "gettable" (not so for van de Ven). van Hecke seems like the best fit if Brighton are reasonable on the fee & van Hecke on wages.
None of these, however, seem like dramatic upgrades on Ibou. van de Ven feels hard to sign. van Hecke & Schotterbeck are miles better than Ibou at progression but not at duels. It comes down to how much Hughes/Slot want an upgrade on progression and the cost (a signing would cost more).
With Jacquet in the squad, it feels like our best bet is a compromise w Ibou on wages/length of contract.
„Their goal difference improves by 0.78, so their attack has lifted in his presence too.“ => that sounds like a lot. Do you happen to know how that compares to our guys and the other top CBs in the league (Saliba, Romero, etc.)?
It is a lot. Van Dijk is +0.42, albeit he plays just about every minute when fit anyway. Konaté is -0.36, worse in his presence. If you go to the Playing Time section on a player’s FBRef page you’ll find it there. You can check anyone in the big five leagues for this season alone here:
Timing is everything, eh?! Having put the work in on this, I wasn't going to abandon it and Liverpool will probably need another centre-back.
JPvH's aerial win rate in the Prem is 57.4% 😬 (I'm actually not a hater because he does a lot of other things well, but it just goes to show how thin the "senior" CB market is ... I had fun on BS the other day mumbling about the PL CB with the highest OBV this season being ... Senesi 🫣)
Fair point re aerials, I see he's dipped a little since last season. If Liverpool happen to sign him I'll dig into his aerial data like I did with Guehi when that move looked likely - turned out he wasn't as bad as the raw figure suggests, it'd be interesting to know if van Hecke is the same.
Bluesky & On-Ball Value (StatsBomb's proprietary possession state value model)
My vote is for Karol Mets … as his last name is easiest to pronounce.
As I support the Mets in baseball, I would be in favour of this! I've got the merch already ;-)
I believe that’s the 1st time I trash-talked Phillies vs Mets transatlantically. I like it.
I moved from Philly to New York 12 years ago and have come to like the Mets as a group of guys. Will root for Philly teams forever though.
I like that your trash talk is ‘this is disappointing’! Yes, I’m afraid I support the Mets. I will always be more disappointed in the decision than you, trust me 😉
I may need to up my game if I want to make the Philly Sports Fans Hall of Fame 🤔
The Mets … enemy of Phillies fans everywhere? This is disappointing, Beas 😐
With Jacquet (21yo) and Leoni (19.5yo) + the 2 CB prospects where we paid a fee, it feels like we've got the "squad" covered at center back, i.e. the 3rd, 4th & 5th CB.
If Ibou leaves, we should therefore be looking for an replacement who is: (1) elite now, (2) 24-26yo, (3) ideally PL-ready. Agree that the focus for elite s/b: (1) a duel-winner & (2) progression machine.
That's a pretty short list: van de Ven, van Hecke & Schlotterbeck. As Andrew pointed out, the latter two are from "selling clubs" w/ 1 year remaining and are "gettable" (not so for van de Ven). van Hecke seems like the best fit if Brighton are reasonable on the fee & van Hecke on wages.
None of these, however, seem like dramatic upgrades on Ibou. van de Ven feels hard to sign. van Hecke & Schotterbeck are miles better than Ibou at progression but not at duels. It comes down to how much Hughes/Slot want an upgrade on progression and the cost (a signing would cost more).
With Jacquet in the squad, it feels like our best bet is a compromise w Ibou on wages/length of contract.
„Their goal difference improves by 0.78, so their attack has lifted in his presence too.“ => that sounds like a lot. Do you happen to know how that compares to our guys and the other top CBs in the league (Saliba, Romero, etc.)?
It is a lot. Van Dijk is +0.42, albeit he plays just about every minute when fit anyway. Konaté is -0.36, worse in his presence. If you go to the Playing Time section on a player’s FBRef page you’ll find it there. You can check anyone in the big five leagues for this season alone here:
https://fbref.com/en/comps/Big5/playingtime/players/Big-5-European-Leagues-Stats
I'll be honest, I ignore 99.99% of transfer gossip... I just needed something about Ibou for the start of the article.
And definitely ignore Fichajes, the least accurate of all sources (according to: https://www.footballtransferleague.co.uk/sources)
I, for one, am hopeful that they're 100% accurate with ManU playing targets. The Lols while watching these happen would take my mind off the weather😄